Whale skull

Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times

Paleontologist David Alexander kneels near a 5-foot-long baleen whale skull fossil found in Lake Forest's Aliso Creek. Orange County agencies are struggling to coordinate having the skull, which is millions of years old, removed and preserved.

Paleontologist David Alexander kneels near a 5-foot-long baleen whale skull fossil found in Lake Forest's Aliso Creek. Orange County agencies are struggling to coordinate having the skull, which is millions of years old, removed and preserved. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Paleontologist David Alexander kneels near a 5-foot-long baleen whale skull fossil found in Lake Forest's Aliso Creek. Orange County agencies are struggling to coordinate having the skull, which is millions of years old, removed and preserved.